Friday, November 06, 2009

To Be Like Jesus: Singing the Fruit of the Spirit

I still remember the fruit of the Spirit by mentally humming a couple of lines from a song I learned in Vacation Bible School way back when: "You gotta have love. Joy. Peace, patience, kindness / For this is the fruit of God's Spirit! You gotta have goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control / For this is the fruit of God's Spirit!"

But now I've found some fruit of the Spirit music I like a WHOLE lot better. It won't help me remember the list in a catchy way--but the songs are much cooler :) And more importantly, they remind me HOW the fruit of the Spirit grows in my life.

There's not much hope in "you gotta have love, joy, patience, self-control"--as though I must add these difficult character traits to the long, guilt-inducing list of things I am failing at. In contrast, Sovereign Grace's newest kids' CD, To Be Like Jesus, approaches the fruit of the Spirit from the gospel perspective I expect and so appreciate with Sovereign Grace Music. From the album description:
"Through these songs kids will learn that Jesus is our perfect example of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. More than that, they’ll discover that we can’t be like Jesus unless we trust in the power of his cross to forgive us and the power of his Spirit to change us."
YES! There's hope in that. I've "gotta have" love...but I don't. So I sing along with this confession in "Because You First Loved Me":

That's a love I haven't got
It’s me I love a lot
Stuck here I’m tied in knots
I need a Savior
Jesus, set me free to love You more than me

I've "gotta have" gentleness...but I come up short there, too. So I pray with the song "Gentle Like Jesus":

Help me be gentle like Jesus
For He was humble
Spirit come soften my heart
Help me be
Gentle like Jesus

I've "gotta have" self-control...but, well...nope. Again I sing:

Lord, I’m needy
So I’m pleading
Come and fill me
Help me to be self-controlled
I think Mama needs these lyrics much more than Elijah at this point! We borrowed this CD from a friend (thanks, Lydia!) and the more I listen to it, the more I like it. And Elijah likes it, too--he has started picking up one or two words in the chorus of a couple of the songs. Definitely will be adding it to his Christmas wishlist. These gospel-centered songs are the kind I want my son to grow up singing--the kind that point him not to his own strength, but to the grace of God in Christ. He, not we, can produce the fruit of the Spirit in us!

You can buy the CD here for only $12--and it's an enhanced version that includes accompaniment tracks, how cool! Or, the mp3 download set is only $9.

7 comments:

Danielle said...

My boys always start clapping at the first song, we love it! And I often think I need to hear the songs more than the boys! ;)

BTW, have you heard the new "Sons & Daughters" cd? It's great too, especially love track #1 & 2.

zo said...

I like this post and I really need to get the CD.

I know exactly the Fruit song you're talking about from VBS. I have video of Sarah singing it when she was abou t4. She couldn't pronounce a lot of her beginning consonants, which makes the song even cuteer in my memory. "Ya gotta have luv, shoy, feace, fatience, fine-ness, for diss is de fwuit of God's Peeeeerrrit."

I do appreciate your comparison of the "gotta have" vs. the "I need Jesus" mindset. This week I have SO lacked all of it.

Unknown said...

Awesome CD! We need that one here too, thanks for sharing!

lydia said...

So glad you are enjoying it Amy! I'm guessing the kid's voices didn't get to you too much? I think I like the cd so much for my own benefit, not just Elijah's!

Amy said...

Lydia, it's like some of the other SG music...even when I don't care for the singer's voice, I can get over it because the lyrics are so great! the kids' voices grated on me the first couple of times I listened...but then I started really hearing the words and loved it.

Amy said...

oh, and yes, Danielle--I bought Sons & Daughters via mp3 as soon as it came out :)

Anonymous said...

I am looking for that vbs song! Does anyone know who sang it? Thanks